# Origin of phrase "In Soviet Russia, XXX X's YOU!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 11, 2006, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-phrase-in-soviet-russia-xxx-xs-you/375995 "2006-10-11T00:08:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-phrase-in-soviet-russia-xxx-xs-you/375995/1 "2006-10-11T00:08:17Z")
I’ve seen this construct several times on the board here. It’s cute and I dig it, but I’m just curious what phrase started this little epidemic, and why. That’s all, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-phrase-in-soviet-russia-xxx-xs-you/375995/2 "2006-10-11T00:11:52Z")
I believe the construct was coined by Yakov Smirnoff > **[Yakov Smirnoff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakov_Smirnoff)** > > Yakov Naumovich Pokhis (Russian: Яков Наумович Похис; born 24 January 1951), better known as Yakov Smirnoff (Russian: Яков Смирнов; /ˈsmɪərnɒf/), is a Russian-American comedian, actor and writer. He began his career as a stand-up comedian in the Soviet Union, then immigrated to the United States in 1977 in order to pursue an American show business career, not yet knowing any English. > He reached his biggest success in the mid-to-late 1980s, appearing in several films which include Moscow on the... ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-phrase-in-soviet-russia-xxx-xs-you/375995/3 "2006-10-11T00:14:07Z")
Ahh… and it’s called ‘Russian Reversal’ > **[In Soviet Russia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_reversal)** > > "In Soviet Russia", also called the Russian reversal, is a joke template taking the general form "In America you do X to/with Y; in Soviet Russia Y does X to/with you". Typically the American clause describes a harmless ordinary activity and the inverted Soviet form something menacing or dysfunctional, satirizing life under communist rule, or in the "old country". Sometimes the first clause is omitted, and sometimes either clause or both are deliberately rendered with English grammatical Altho... ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-phrase-in-soviet-russia-xxx-xs-you/375995/4 "2006-10-11T00:15:36Z")
I should have known there’s not only already a name for the phenomenon, but a Wiki article on it! “Russian reversal” it is then. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-phrase-in-soviet-russia-xxx-xs-you/375995/5 "2006-10-11T00:47:43Z")
In Soviet Russia, Reversal Russians you! Wow, that makes no sense at all… ---
**Author:** ![Hirundo82](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/919ad9/32.png) [@Hirundo82](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirundo82)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-phrase-in-soviet-russia-xxx-xs-you/375995/6 "2006-10-11T01:00:37Z")
[QUOTE=Electronic Chaos] In Soviet Russia, Reversal Russians you! Wow, that makes no sense at all… [/QUOTE] No, but it sounds vaguely dirty.